Category: Berlin

German Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy Peter Altmaier had developed a strategy for the “Mittelstand” or small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), the newspaper Handelsblatt reported on Wednesday. “In the eyes of foreigners, SMEs are Germany’s secret weapon and, unlike the Dax 30 companies, SMEs are proving to be extremely… – Continue reading

BERLIN, May 9 (Xinhua) — According to current tax estimates, the German federal, state and local governments will have 124.3 billion euros (139.5 billion U.S. dollars) less to spend by 2023 than previously predicted, the Federal Ministry of Finance announced on Thursday. According to the German finance ministry, expectations about… – Continue reading

Ordinary taxpayers on the streets of Berlin and elsewhere may be confused if you ask them about the “cum-ex” share switch scandal. However, this shady tax avoidance practice has cost them and the treasury a lot of money. Several German banks, exploiting a now-closed loophole relating to the excessive claiming… – Continue reading

British chancellor Philip Hammond has infuriated German politicians for implying a “hard” Brexit would see London adopt a new role as a tax haven before the gates of the EU. Driving speculation ahead of Tuesday’s Brexit address by prime minister Teresa May, Mr Hammond said he preferred seeing Britain remain… – Continue reading

Chancellor tells German newspaper if Britain were closed off from markets it may abandon European-style social model The chancellor, Philip Hammond, has suggested Britain could transform its economic model into that of a corporate tax haven if the EU fails to provide it with an agreement on market access after… – Continue reading

Talks on a data exchange agreement have progressed following Panama President Varela’s state visit to Berlin. Panama is looking to clean up its reputation in the aftermath of the “Panama Papers” leak earlier this year. Germany and Panama moved a step closer towards signing an information-sharing agreement, German Chancellor Angela… – Continue reading

Turkmenistan and Germany signed an agreement on avoidance of double taxation with respect to income and property taxes in Berlin, the Turkmen Dovlet Habarlary(TDH) state news agency reported. According to the message, the signing ceremony took place as part of the two-day working visit of Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov to… – Continue reading

BERLIN – A European Union official threatened Thursday to sanction Panama and other nations if they don’t cooperate fully to fight money laundering and tax evasion, after a leak of data showed the small country remains a key destination for people wanting to hide money. The 11.5 million documents from… – Continue reading

Panama and the U.S. have at least one thing in common: Neither has agreed to new international standards to make it harder for tax evaders and money launderers to hide their money. Over the past several years, amid increased scrutiny by journalists, regulators and law enforcers, the global tax-haven landscape… – Continue reading

A while back in Germany, I was driving on the straight as an arrow B-1. That is Bundesstrasse, the equivalent of a U.S. highway, a notch below the Autobahn. Roads tend to curve around farmers’ fields, having been there first. The B-1 from Cologne on the Rhine toward Berlin was… – Continue reading

The present French Tax Update contains (i) an overview of the main provisions proposed by the draft amending finance bill for 2015 (loi de finances rectificative pour 2015, 2015 Draft Amending Finance Bill), (ii) an update of the parliamentary amendments adopted in respect of the draft finance bill for 2016… – Continue reading

CORK, Ireland — As lord mayor of this quiet seaside city in southern Ireland, Chris O’Leary seems to have a situation most other local politicians can only dream about. Blue-chip international companies like Apple, Dell and IBM have all set up shop in and around this city, filling newly built… – Continue reading

Corporate corruption is still prevalent in rich Group of 20 nations despite their pledges last year to close loopholes, according to Transparency International. It has listed Brazil, China and the US among the offenders. Transparency International on Thursday labeled this weekend’s G20 summit in Turkey as a mere “photo opportunity,”… – Continue reading

Plans to list its European REIT on the JSE. Feeding South Africans’ seeming insatiable desire for rand-hedge stocks, Schroder Real Estate is planning to launch a European Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT), which will have a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange with a secondary listing on the Johannesburg… – Continue reading

Zambia Revenue Authority-ZRA- Commissioner General Berlin Msiska says Africa needs to work together to address illegal Financial Flows. Mr Msiska says international cooperation is required because illegal financial flows affect all regions of the continent. He says African Tax administrations can achieve a more effective and efficient relationship through initiatives… – Continue reading

Oct 1 Germany is not ruling out the introduction of tax breaks for companies on revenue generated from patented or licensed research, a senior official said on Thursday. The government has repeatedly said it would consider introducing so-called patent boxes if there were no progress towards fair tax competition at… – Continue reading

India joined the Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement on Automatic Exchange of Financial Account Information on 3rd June, 2015, in Paris, France, alongwith Australia, Canada, Costa Rica, Indonesia and New Zealand. On our behalf, the Declaration to comply with the provisions of the MCAA was signed by H.E. Mr. Mohan Kumar,… – Continue reading

Documents exposed secret deals to slash global tax bills of multinational companies A French journalist has been criminally charged in Luxembourg for his role in exposing how hundreds of multinational companies used secret deals with the European duchy’s government to slash their global tax bills — a scheme that CBC… – Continue reading

The internationally recognized handbook for legal experts Global Law Experts has distinguished GRP Rainer Lawyers and Tax Advisors as one of the leading law firms in the field of tax law. GRP Rainer Lawyers and Tax Advisors in Cologne, Berlin, Bonn, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Munich, Stuttgart and London has been… – Continue reading

EUROPEAN M&A DOS AND DON’TS FOR NON-EUROPEAN BUYERS Inbound M&A in Europe by non-European buyers increased in 2014 by 68.6% compared to 2013, representing over a third of USD 901.4 billion total European M&A.1 For non-European buyers the basic framework of transactions may be similar, but there are a number… – Continue reading

BERLIN: The Governments of France and Germany signed an amendment to the France-German treaty dated (the “Treaty”), which will have an impact in the future for certain investments in real estate. For France, this amendment follows the amendment to France-Luxembourg signed on 5 September 2014 which also impacts foreign investments… – Continue reading

Cross border tax fraud and tax evasion by High Net Wealth Individuals (HNWI) are serious problems for many jurisdictions. For many years exchange of information between countries has been solely upon request. In practise this procedure is not efficiently working as it requires foreseeable relevance, thus ‘fishing’ for information is… – Continue reading

Greece’s fellow eurozone member states, including Germany, must approve the release of the remaining €7.2bn (£5.25bn) in bailout funds the country is expecting. Germany turned the screws on Greece again yesterday, as officials insisted Athens has still not provided a satisfactory programme of economic reforms to its single currency partners…. – Continue reading

BERLIN: German football legend Uli Hoeness (pix), boss of champion club Bayern Munich, will face a high-profile tax evasion trial from Monday, accused of having stashed away millions in Switzerland. The folksy 62-year-old Bavarian club president, who also runs a flourishing sausage company, was arrested and bailed almost a year ago… – Continue reading